I was getting tired of feeding squished clams to the fish so today the 37 was completely overhauled.
Started by pumping 15 gallons of aquarium water into a large tote that was cleaned for the job last night. Added an air pump and stone then removed all fish from the tank and added them to the tote.
Pulled all items from the 37. Linda gave them a 165F bath in my brew pot, then dipped them in bleached water, and followed with another 165F bath to speed chlorine dissipation. While she was doing this I pumped the tank as close to the bottom as possible the removed the majority of the gravel This was taken outside and thoroughly rinsed with the garden hose after a chlorinated water soak. All the paraphenalia was then put back into the tank which was then filled with 30 gallons of our rainwater / well water mix that was heated to 75F in the brew pot, (It had been heated to 170-175F the night before as is our norm). Fish were put back where they belonged and the tank topped with water from the tote. Both the 40 Fluval sponge filter and the HOB media were then given a thorough rinse and squeeze and reinstalled. Final step was the addition of Tetra to the tank.
It has been a couple of hours and all my finned buddies are acting normally. Later today, after our chore list has been completed, we will go to the LFS and purchase three Assassins to go with the two that are current occupants.
If this action is successful one of the 20's will receive the same treatment. No other tank has pest snails because we did not introduce plants to any other tank.
Although we really want to transition to live plants in our tanks, we do not want uninvited guests so we will, one purchases our plants from "snail Free" sources and dip them for added protection. I have finally told Linda that after her 30 Breeder is set up there will be no further tank expansion of any kind until we have this plant transition down pat. I have tired of daily murder sessions with these darn snails.
As a note .... I understand our feeding program is much to blame for the snail proliferation. Linda has a thing about feeding animals though so it is doubtful that will ever be something fully addressed. She much prefers extra cleaning as the solution and so far, that has with the exception of snail population, not created any health or water quality issues. As long as it does not there is no sense in me butting my head against that wall.
Started by pumping 15 gallons of aquarium water into a large tote that was cleaned for the job last night. Added an air pump and stone then removed all fish from the tank and added them to the tote.
Pulled all items from the 37. Linda gave them a 165F bath in my brew pot, then dipped them in bleached water, and followed with another 165F bath to speed chlorine dissipation. While she was doing this I pumped the tank as close to the bottom as possible the removed the majority of the gravel This was taken outside and thoroughly rinsed with the garden hose after a chlorinated water soak. All the paraphenalia was then put back into the tank which was then filled with 30 gallons of our rainwater / well water mix that was heated to 75F in the brew pot, (It had been heated to 170-175F the night before as is our norm). Fish were put back where they belonged and the tank topped with water from the tote. Both the 40 Fluval sponge filter and the HOB media were then given a thorough rinse and squeeze and reinstalled. Final step was the addition of Tetra to the tank.
It has been a couple of hours and all my finned buddies are acting normally. Later today, after our chore list has been completed, we will go to the LFS and purchase three Assassins to go with the two that are current occupants.
If this action is successful one of the 20's will receive the same treatment. No other tank has pest snails because we did not introduce plants to any other tank.
Although we really want to transition to live plants in our tanks, we do not want uninvited guests so we will, one purchases our plants from "snail Free" sources and dip them for added protection. I have finally told Linda that after her 30 Breeder is set up there will be no further tank expansion of any kind until we have this plant transition down pat. I have tired of daily murder sessions with these darn snails.
As a note .... I understand our feeding program is much to blame for the snail proliferation. Linda has a thing about feeding animals though so it is doubtful that will ever be something fully addressed. She much prefers extra cleaning as the solution and so far, that has with the exception of snail population, not created any health or water quality issues. As long as it does not there is no sense in me butting my head against that wall.
